CEDRIC COWARD
HISTERICALCHEES COMBINE APPROVED
Position/Archetype: Lengthy 3&D Wing
College: Washington State
Pros:
Size and Length: Simply the best part of his skillset is the 7'2 wingspan as a 6'5 wing. 206 Lbs there too, he use his length really well to defend primarily, as a POA defender and chasing down and disrupt on defence this is where it gets very interesting. and then being able to shoot over most wings in the NBA is gonna be big for him. Similar measurements to Jalen Williams.
Athleticism: He's shown great vertical in the footage we've seen, he had a 38 inch vertical but to be honest I will say he doesn't impress me that much outside of that, like his lateral movement and speed aren't very impressive. But yes the extreme vertical with his size is super interesting.
Three Point Shooting: I kinda like the shot, reminds me of Mikal Bridges a lot with his upper form. I think he's got enough upside as a movement shooter, catch and shoot shooting seems to be the most translatable part right now though. I buy it translating to the NBA just wished we'd had more of a high level film of his shot going in but unfortunately we do not.
POA Defence: Uses his length really well to stay ahead of his man, I think he can be better laterally with his movement but staying in front and contesting shots with is long wingspan, knocking loose balls out with his arms I think thats his big defensive skill. But he also isn't a super effective defender, he's a plus, pretty good defender but far from his most interesting skill.
Inside Creation and space spotting: He gets defended as a movement shooter, being denied the ball a lot and followed pretty intensely, he is able to spot how to take advantage with cuts and coming off handoffs to drive and create shots inside. Whether thats in the mid range or in the post where he's shown strong ability to make shots from.
Connectivity: He can start plays off with good passes and finding open men, he's not gonna be a creator for others but smart enough to start sets off and find open men and people in a space to create advantages for themselves. and thats super useful as a team player and also a plug and play guy.
Cons:
Inexperience: first year in D1 and played 6 games, previously only in D3. although he showed very impressive stuff in those games thats a very limited film to go over and why we've seen his combine matter so much.
Injury: His shoulder like blew the hell up. Not gonna say he's gonna have career injury problems but I'm pretty worried it might become that.
IQ: Defence IQ off ball ain't there when rotating and can get caught out a good bit but his body and athleticism allows him to recover well. He picks up his dribble way too early when pressured so learning how to get around that at the NBA level will be interesting.
Strength: He's pretty skinny, probably needs to put some pounds on this offseason to be at NBA strength and size. But I feel like he has the frame for him to do so, I believe he can do it.
NBA Pro Comp: Mikal Bridges, Bilal Coulibaly
Projection: He's probably someone I can really see being a long time good role-player, potential starter or 6th man if he can translate these flashes we've seen in a short time period. But I'm worried he might not be a consistent healthy player or maybe the inexperiences bit him in the ass.
CHEESE FINAL BOARD RANKING: (coming soon)